- Joined
- Sep 11, 2013
- Messages
- 348
- Reaction score
- 147
I've been wondering for a very long time where the competition in this game exists. I've concluded that it is just forced to hide in the shadows of the creative mode players who want to make pretty ships and servers who host public events. There are is no diverse universe of empire builders, bounty hunters, rebels, federations, dictatorships and so on. I think this is because we are occupied in the first few stages of the game resource collection and design instead of design and conquer.
Unfortunately to have the latter, larger scale play styles, requires lots of people who are willing to grind very hard with little payoff. I've come to a conclusion as to how to solve this problem. That is to divide starmade into three modes. These are , creative, survival, and conquest. The rules and mechanics would be changed for each but the underlying principles would be the same. Each play mode will cater to players based on how they want to play.
1) Creative mode:
This will cater to ship designers who have no taste for combat but still want to playtest their ships. Essentially it exists as creative mode does in other games. infinite blocks and god mode for all players in the universe and environmental and survival factors turned off. I would add a battle mode where players can agree to playtest their ships. Each player would have to agree to a battle. Battles would be to the death but upon losing your ship is returned to its original, undamaged, state such that players can easily make modifications and competition is in good spirit. This could be extended to fleets of ships with multiple players so long as everyone agrees to the battle. A time limit could also be set.
1a) battlemode could also be a separate mode where people are allowed to load in what ships they want and fight them. Appealing to those who maybe just want to dogfight or re enact a movie battle without grinding for the parts.
2) Survival mode
this mode would exist as the game stands today. Every player must mine blocks to build ships, they can form factions and such if they want. However there has to be things that actually kill you. There needs to be random events beyond pirates. The should be oxygen, food, and water requirements. There ought to be storms in space or asteroid impacts, something for the players to do and really fight against the environment.
3) Conquest mode
Because empire building requires lots of grunt work(mining and such) there is little room for players to do the fun stuff( Conquest and diplomacy). Survival necessities would be turned off (IE food,air ,and water) but environment would be left on(pirates, ion storms ect...) This mode would then change the mining system to something more like an RTS or turn based strategy where planets and asteroids once conquered provide a resource trickle.This gives players incentive to hold and conquer new zones. They may then focus on building and fighting their ships instead of building an economy around move and mine. Conquering someone would then be meaningful as you gain something beyond empty faction points. When shipyards become a reality this mode would really shine as players can really build fleets quickly.
The problem as it is, is that people are trying to play every part of a several different games at once. Some people play the designer, some people play the miners, some play the pilots and captains, some play emperors and dictators. Balancing across all these play styles is likely impossible. If we create clear divisions for people who want to play differently we don't have to worry about certain scales being op. In the manner described above though we can create modes for people to actually play what they want. This is just a rough skeleton of a an idea. I am open to suggestions, but I hope schema and the council hear me. There would have to be much more specific rules and balancing done as the game develops, but as it stands the game really only caters to the creative mode players, unless you play with heavy role play rules.
Unfortunately to have the latter, larger scale play styles, requires lots of people who are willing to grind very hard with little payoff. I've come to a conclusion as to how to solve this problem. That is to divide starmade into three modes. These are , creative, survival, and conquest. The rules and mechanics would be changed for each but the underlying principles would be the same. Each play mode will cater to players based on how they want to play.
1) Creative mode:
This will cater to ship designers who have no taste for combat but still want to playtest their ships. Essentially it exists as creative mode does in other games. infinite blocks and god mode for all players in the universe and environmental and survival factors turned off. I would add a battle mode where players can agree to playtest their ships. Each player would have to agree to a battle. Battles would be to the death but upon losing your ship is returned to its original, undamaged, state such that players can easily make modifications and competition is in good spirit. This could be extended to fleets of ships with multiple players so long as everyone agrees to the battle. A time limit could also be set.
1a) battlemode could also be a separate mode where people are allowed to load in what ships they want and fight them. Appealing to those who maybe just want to dogfight or re enact a movie battle without grinding for the parts.
2) Survival mode
this mode would exist as the game stands today. Every player must mine blocks to build ships, they can form factions and such if they want. However there has to be things that actually kill you. There needs to be random events beyond pirates. The should be oxygen, food, and water requirements. There ought to be storms in space or asteroid impacts, something for the players to do and really fight against the environment.
3) Conquest mode
Because empire building requires lots of grunt work(mining and such) there is little room for players to do the fun stuff( Conquest and diplomacy). Survival necessities would be turned off (IE food,air ,and water) but environment would be left on(pirates, ion storms ect...) This mode would then change the mining system to something more like an RTS or turn based strategy where planets and asteroids once conquered provide a resource trickle.This gives players incentive to hold and conquer new zones. They may then focus on building and fighting their ships instead of building an economy around move and mine. Conquering someone would then be meaningful as you gain something beyond empty faction points. When shipyards become a reality this mode would really shine as players can really build fleets quickly.
The problem as it is, is that people are trying to play every part of a several different games at once. Some people play the designer, some people play the miners, some play the pilots and captains, some play emperors and dictators. Balancing across all these play styles is likely impossible. If we create clear divisions for people who want to play differently we don't have to worry about certain scales being op. In the manner described above though we can create modes for people to actually play what they want. This is just a rough skeleton of a an idea. I am open to suggestions, but I hope schema and the council hear me. There would have to be much more specific rules and balancing done as the game develops, but as it stands the game really only caters to the creative mode players, unless you play with heavy role play rules.
